Public Statements

Newsletter - EPA vs. Jobs

Statement

Not a week goes by without more evidence of out control bureaucracies harming economic growth. Wednesday, Mr. Al Puckett of Columbus testified before the House Judiciary Committee on his experience dealing with regulatory overreach.

Columbus Brick Company has been in business since 1890. Mr. Puckett is the 4th generation of the family to run it. They spent substantial sums of money to bring the factory into compliance with new EPA regulations just a few years ago. Now, the EPA is threatening new, even more expensive regulations without any input from the public, stakeholders, or Congress. In Mr. Puckett's words:

"What I've seen happening in the past several years makes me extremely concerned about my ability to keep our business viable for the future...If the EPA uses the same approach they have followed on recent rules Columbus Brick may cease to exist after almost 125 years of operation I expect a minimum of having to shut down two of our three kilns. That will mean a permanent job loss of 45 to 50 families in our small rural community."

Environmental regulation should be fair, reasonable and balance costs vs. benefits. Mr. Puckett stated it best in his testimony when he said, "We are not asking for the rule to go away. We are asking that the practice of establishing unreasonable deadlines without input from the impacted industries go away."